


Beyond Time

by Violet_Skys



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-19 21:25:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15518901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Violet_Skys/pseuds/Violet_Skys
Summary: Satya loves her job at the Overwatch Historical Observatory and Library. As a traveler, she’s lived so many lives as someone from a different time. She’s met a lot of people too. But when on a mission in an allied hospital during World War One, something very unexpected happens. She finds herself unwillingly dragged into the life of private Jamison Fawks, an amputee who refuses to let her do her job in peace. Travelers only have one rule. Leave no mark. Make yourself as scarce as possible. Befriend no one, leave no lasting impression, and love no one. Take no chance of changing history.





	1. Chapter 1

"Stockings, dress, cotton combination, apron…" Satya tuned out Gabriel's voice as she thumbed over the red cross adorning the front of the standard VAD apron. All of the clothing pieces were familiar, she'd studied early twentieth century dress like any other traveler, but she'd never been sent on a mission to any time later than the second half of the 1800s. It simply wasn't her time period of expertise.

"And a work veil." The tailor finished, setting the checklist on top of the stack of clothing in Satya's arms."You remember how to put all of this on, right?" 

Satya nodded, signing off that she had received all clothing items. Gabriel stuffed the sheet into the mission file.

"Wonderful. You're free to go up to debriefing, Vaswani. Ziegler, McCree. One of you get up here."

The elevator ride to the main office was short, but Satya had already worked out when her new assignment would be. The style of the VAD nurse's uniform indicated World War One. Observation of war front hospitals was likely the mission's objective. She would need to see Angela's and Jesse's clothing and the mission file to know more. She knocked at the office door.

"Come in." a man called from inside. Satya pushed the door open and stood behind one of the three chairs in the room. Jack Morrison, the mission counselor at Overwatch Historical Observatory and Library beckoned for her to take a seat.

"Please, sit. We'll go over the mission details once everyone's here." They weren't left waiting for long. Soon, Angela Ziegler walked in, also carrying a World War One nursing uniform. But unlike Satya's, this one marked Angela as a trained nurse rather than a volunteer. If Satya remembered correctly, Angela specialized in medicine and medical practices throughout history. She’d never actually worked with either of the other travelers on this assignment, but she’d seen them around the office or entering and exiting the time capsules. 

Jesse McCree walked in, a World War One American military uniform draped over his arm. This was a surprise to Satya. She'd never seen Jesse enter or exit a time capsule wearing anything but distinctly western clothing suited for cattle trails. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't ever seen him in anything but the outlandish hat and spurs.

"I'm sure by now you've figured out where you're going." Jack began, after bidding Jesse to sit. "But just to clarify and give a location, the three of you are going to an allied military hospital in Greece. Your arrival date is the 30th of December 1915." He handed each traveler a folder containing their mission instructions.

"The hospital is short on staff due to the recent evacuation of Gallipoli. As you know, the casualties of that campaign were horrendous. They're short on nurses and are in need of a communications officer capable of translating Cherokee messages from the United States."

Satya scanned over the contents of her folder, pleasantly surprised she'd been allowed to keep her name. Satya Vaswani, VAD nurse from southern India, upper middle class family, volunteered for the VAD three months after the war started.

"Vaswani and Ziegler will be posing as two nurses sent from a nearby British base and McCree will be translating Cherokee code. Your objective is to observe and take note of the soldiers in the hospital. The effects of Gallipoli on morale. In your file, you'll find a notebook. Take notes under the guise of a journal. Your observation period stops a year after your arrival and at that time you will put the notebooks in the designated drop off which will be collected the next day. You're familiar with the system, I know." Jack's gaze hardened.

"I know this isn't the kind of work the three of you are accustomed to, but this is an important mission. Observations of the effects of the Gallipoli Campaign are invaluable to Overwatch's records. This information could change the way the world sees many of the leaders involved in Gallipoli. Take a few hours to speak with each other and really get to know your role in the mission. This isn't a time period any of you have been too, so help each other prepare in any way possible before your capsule times tomorrow." The three nodded in understanding as Jack refiled his papers.

"Alright, dismissed." Satya stood, following Angela as the three exited the office.  
\---------  
"Well… This 'oughta be interest'in." 

Satya sipped at her coffee and nodded. They had gone to the break room to discuss the mission and had been sitting in silence for the last two minutes.

"Um… if ya didn't already know, I'm Jesse. I specialize in just 'bout anything relating t'cattle drives, cattle drivers, mountain men, pioneers, and southern Native American tribes. Nice t'meet you." Satya's interest was piqued.

"What an intriguing area of study." She commented, setting down her empty mug.

"Satya Vaswani, Victorian and early Edwardian specialist. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." McCree tipped his hat to her.

"How 'bout you, Miss Ziegler?" The man asked, smiling pleasantly. Angela, caught in mid sip of her coffee, broke into a fit of coughing. 

"Please, call me Angela.” She sputtered. “I study the evolution of medicine and its practical applications. Most of my traveling is for studying past methods, but there are rare occasions such as these that I am able to put my knowledge to use." The room fell silent for a second time. Unwilling to waste their planning period before launch, Satya opened her mission file.

"Shall we start?" Jesse nodded, opening his folder.

"Right. Well, I get to keep my name for this one. Jesse McCree, born on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina. Drafted a month after the war started. Military put me to sending code after learning I knew the Cherokee language." Satya pulled a pen from her pocket, scribbling notes in the margin of her file.

"I was allowed to keep my name as well. Satya Vaswani, born in Madurai, volunteered services to the VAD three months after the war started."

"I believe Jack thought I would be mistaken for a German." Surmised Angela, brow furrowed slightly. " I'm now Angela Lemaire, born in Brussels Belgium, licensed nurse, volunteered when Belgium joined the war." Satya stopped her pen at a piece of information at the bottom of the page.

"It says here that once we arrive in 1915, a truck is parked by the road. We are to drive to the hospital immediately after arriving." She looked up. "This is the twenty second century. Do either of you have experience driving a vehicle from the twentieth?" the three looked between each other, neither saying a thing. Surely one of them knew how to drive. Right?  
\-----------  
Satya gave herself one last check before leaving the lockers. Her dress was neat, her hair was pinned, and her notebook, apron, veil, collar, and over sleeves were neatly folded away into a shoulder bag. 

"Ready?" Angela was similarly dressed, carrying a shoulder bag of her own.  
"I believe so. Where's Jesse?" 

"Right 'ere." Satya almost didn't recognize the man. His uniform was impeccable, as expected of a military officer, and he'd trimmed his moustache and shaved his beard.

"Jesse!" greeted Angela. "Don't you clean up nicely." He laughed and reached up to tip his hat, fumbling as he realized he didn't have one.

"Ready guys?" Brigitte Lindholm, a capsule engineer, poked her head into the locker room, clipboard held to her chest. 

"Ready as we'll ever be." Laughed Angela as she smoothed her skirt. The Swedish woman chuckled.

"Ok then. Jesse, you're at capsule two, Angela, capsule three, and Satya, you're in four. I'm sure you know this, but I'm paid to say it, so please wait outside your designated time capsule until further instruction is given by a capsule engineer." The three stepped into the capsule chamber, a large room containing ten floor to ceiling time capsules, separated from the control room by wall of fiberglass. Brigitte appeared at the controls, smiling encouragingly at the travelers.

"Alright. When the capsule opens, step inside and wait for the hatch to lock. When the lock turns green, please confirm your capsule is locked by flipping the switch on the inside control panel. Once all members of the travel team have confirmed their capsule is sealed, I will initiate the launch. You will receive a five second count down before the launch itself. Any questions?"

Having traveled many times before, none of them had any questions. The engineer smiled and waved as the capsules opened.

"Ok guys! Have fun! I'll see you in a few seconds!" Jesse gave a bark of laughter at the statement. Satya bit her lip as she stepped in the capsule to keep from laughing as well.

"You forget it's a lifetime for us darlin." 

They wouldn't be back in this room until they died.

The capsules closed and after a moment, the lock turned green. Sucking in a breath, Satya flicked the switch. Traveling always made her shaky. A moment later and the countdown began. 5…4…3…2…1…


	2. Chapter 2

This was it. They were going to die. The mission was going to end prematurely and they’d be back in the capsules with no information. All because Jesse didn’t know how to drive.

“I thought you said you’d learned to use this contraption.” Satya worried in the calmest voice she could manage. The vehicle swerved and Satya yelped as she was sent careening into Angela.

“I said I found a simulator in the library!” Jesse shouted, panicking as he swerved to avoid a lamp post. Horrified Greek citizens fled the streets as the rickety death trap barrelled down the road towards the coordinates of the hospital. “Why’s everybody gotta trust me with this shit?” Satya was inclined to wonder the same as her stomach, already queasy from traveling, now shot into her chest at every turn the car made.

“Do you not think the hospital staff would find it odd to see a nurse driving their new communications officer? This is 1915, you’re expected to be the one dri—“ Angela was cut off from finishing her statement as Jesse slammed down on the breaks in front of a large building, effectively throwing both women into the floor.

“We’re here.” Jesse muttered darkly, exiting the vehicle and slamming the door shut. A loud clunk came from outside at the wheel well followed by another loud curse.

“I think he kicked the car...” mused Angela, a shaky smile rising to her lips. Satya soon found the smile contagious and a moment later, both women were shaking with relieved laughter. The door of the back seat open, revealing a still very annoyed Jesse.

“You ladies coming or am I on my own?” Still smiling, they slid from the backseat and headed towards the hospital entrance. Satya steeled her expression as the three approached the front desk. 

It was obvious that this building wasn’t actually a hospital, rather, a building being used as one due to its location or lack of space in an actual hospital. Satya was inclined to believe the latter. The harried looking receptionist gave Jesse a cursory glance before looking back down at her paperwork.

“Can I help you?” She asked, lack of sleep evident in her voice.

“Yes ma’am. I’m Major Jesse McCree, section MI-8, United States Army, and these ladies behind me are Miss Lemaire and Miss Vaswani. The base in Salonica sent us. Said you were short on staff and needed an American cryptographer.” The woman nodded.

“Wait here.” The woman left, leaving the three alone.

“Nice place. Looks like a school.” Jesse commented drily, eyes roaming the foyer, calculating.

“It probably was.” Agreed Angela. “I wonder what kind.”

“Art.” Answered a new voice. All three whipped around. The receptionist had returned with a red headed woman. “This was an art school. We had to move materials to the attic to make room for patients.” She held out her hand for Jesse to shake.

“Moira O’Deorain. Head of staffing. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Jesse McCree. Glad we could be of assistance.” Moira looked over his shoulder at Satya and Angela.

“Are either of you licensed?” Angela nodded.

“I am licensed. Miss Vaswani is from the VAD.” 

The ginger haired woman hummed in thought before beckoning for the trio to follow.

“Come. We’ll handle paperwork later, there’s lots of work to be done now.” Turning into a corridor, Moira stopped at an office at the bottom of the stairs.

“The radio’s in here, Major. Please make yourself comfortable and introduce yourself to the other cryptographers.” She held the door open, motioning for Jesse to enter the office. Satya could see two other men, both Eastern Asian in appearance, wearing head sets and tapping out messages. Moira closed the door after the American and started up the stairs. Coming to a stop at the first floor, she faced Satya.

“You’ll be working up here with Olivia. You understand your role, yes? Do what the nurses tell you, keep the ward clean, make the patients as comfortable as possible.” Satya nodded. 

“Good. Go find Olivia and put on the rest of your uniform.” The door shut behind her. She was standing in a corridor that split at the end, both ways presumably leading to different wards. The smell of disinfectant was overpowering, despite no patients being present, and Satya didn’t know whether to be impressed with how sterile everything was or wonder what had occurred in this hall way to warrant such a thorough cleaning. A door shut and footsteps started down the hall. Straightening her spine, Satya hurried to meet whoever it was once they arrived at the intersection and nearly barrelled into a tanned woman in a VAD uniform.

“Pardon me.” Apoligized Satya, hesitantly catching the woman by the shoulder. The nurse stared at her, bored.

“Are you Olivia?”

“It depends. Who’s asking?” Satya fought the frown that tugged at her mouth. This was a hospital, how could she be so nonchalant?

“I’m Satya Vaswani. The VAD at the base in Salonica sent me to assist. I’m told you’re understaffed?” Only then did the woman appear to take notice of the patch on her sleeve. Her face lit up.

“Yeah, we are. I’m the only VAD nurse for this floor. It’ll be great to have another one.” She gestured towards a door in the left running hall.

“There nurse’s quarters are in that office, you can go put on the rest of your uniform there.” A rather wicked looking smile appeared on her face.

“Ward A is all yours. That hall right there.” She directed. “Have fun!” Somewhat confused, Satya headed into the office. Clearly the room had been made to accommodate two nurses. Two beds, one pristine, one a mangled mess of bedding, had been shoved to either side of the room. Satya set her bag on the unclaimed bed and set to work, buttoning her apron and over sleeves and pinning her collar in place. Lastly, she pinned the folds of the rectangular veil at the back of her neck, making sure no hair could escape. A knock sounded at the door and Olivia poked her head into the room.

“I’ve got a cleaning box and and a notebook for you. Clean what needs to be cleaned and write down anything unusual.” Olivia handed her the wooden box filled with rags, brushes, cleaning solution and a spiral notebook.

“Extra supplies are in the ward’s storage closet. Got everything?” Satya nodded.

“Yes, thank you. I suppose I’ll see you after hours.” Olivia smiled. 

“Yep! Nine o’clock. Good luck friend.” Her new roommate hurried out of the room and back towards ward B. Adjusting her grip on the box, Satya set out for her own ward.

Satya didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but this was most certainly not it. 

As expected, a good thirty or so men were lined up against the walls of the room. What wasn’t expected was the two men at the end of the room launching an unidentifiable object at each other between the bed rows, a doctor slowly losing patience as he tried to get them to put the item down. Tried. She slammed the door shut, drawing the room’s attention.

“What on earth is going on here.” She demanded, crossing her arms. The doctor looked relieved.

“Ah. Miss Colomar.” Ignoring the incorrect greeting, she surveyed the situation. The two offenders couldn’t be any less alike. The first was massive. Certainly what you would want in a soldier. Even with his face covered in gauze and an arm in a sling, his presence immediately sent needles pricking up Satya’s spine. 

The second however, Satya could only liken to a lamp post. He was unbelievably skinny and sure to measure over six feet standing up. Thickly wound gauze covered the stump of his right arm at the elbow and right leg at the knee. He was certainly not threatening. A lump of fur rested by his left hand. Picking it up, Satya became certain this would become one of the strangest assignments she’d done. 

“What is this... rodent?” Clearly it was a hamster, but the average woman in 1915 wouldn’t know that. Hamsters hadn’t become popular as pets yet. A better question would have been how this man had gotten a hamster.

The limb deficit lamp post scowled.

“Oi, that’s Hammy! Give ‘im back!” Satya shot him a warning look as she cradled the animal to her chest, out of the man’s snatching hands.

“This Is a hospital. I cannot have you flinging a rodent across the room, it’s unsanitary!” The doctor was quick to take the hamster from Satya.

“Exactly what I’ve been trying to tell you. If you see an animal of any sort, alert the nurse on duty and she will take care of it.” He glared at the hamster, who looked as though it was smiling.

“I will, um...dispose of it.” The doctor started to speak to Satya, but paused.

“You’re not Olivia.” Satya shook her head.

“No, Satya Vaswani. I just arrived from the base in Salonica.” The Doctor shook her hand.

“Dr. Winston Harold. Happy to have you. Let me know if you need anything.” Satya smiled.

“Thank you. I will.” She watched the doctor leave and immediately went to wash her hands.

“S’not a big deal. Was just a hamster.” Satya turned the faucet off and fixed the man with a glare.

“It’s a rodent. Do you know how the bubonic plague spread throughout Europe?” The corner of the man’s mouth twitched and his eyebrows furrowed. He looked at the man across from him for help but received a shrug. Sighing, he shrugged and gave her a crooked smile 

“Wasn’t a ‘amster was it?” Satya crossed her arms. 

“Rats. Or rather, the fleas on the rats. You don’t know what kind of filth that hamster was carrying with it.” She gestured to where his arm and leg used to be. 

“I would have thought you of all people would be worried about that. Surgical site infection is a nasty thing to deal with.” He scowled at her.

“Start’in t’think it wouldn’t be near as nasty as you.” Before Satya could chastize him for such an insult, the lamp post man let out a yelp of pain. Her annoyance turned to worry for the well being of her ward, only to transform into smug satisfaction when she saw the lamp post’s massive friend had chucked a thin paperback book at his head. 

“What’s that for?” The smaller man protested.

“Can’t disrespect people like that.” The man answered simplybefore picking a different book and nonchalantly flipping to the first page. The lamp post man huffed and made a valiant effort to cross his arms, despite missing one. The fact he couldn’t complete the gesture only seemed to annoy him more. 

Perhaps she should show some more sympathy. She’d lost an arm once while on mission in a British textile factory. Its absence had bothered her so much she’d jumped from the factory roof once her observation period was finished. 

She dampened two rags with a small amount of rubbing alcohol and walked to the scene of the hamster volley. Picking the book up, she turned to the larger man and set the volume on the side table. 

“While I appreciate your efforts to defend me, please try not to hurt the other patients. Nobody needs another reason to be here.” Not looking up from his book, he gave her a thumbs up. She handed him one of the rags. 

“Good. Now clean your hands. We can't have any germs from that hamster spreading elsewhere.” Walking to the other man’s side of the room, Satya held up the other rag.

“Do you need help or are you able to disinfect your own hand. His scowl never fell as he snatched the rag and awkwardly used his thumb and teeth to wrap the rag around his remaining hand. Not as thorough as she would have liked, but it would do for now.

“I believe we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. Shall we begin again?” His scowl softened and he made what she assumed was a hum of agreement around the rag in his teeth. She offered him her left hand. If she was to avoid conflict with this man she would have to be more considerate, starting with avoiding an awkward handshake due to her giving him the hand he couldn't grasp. Whether he would notice the subtle gesture, she didn't know, nor did she care.

“Satya Vaswani. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He accepted the handshake, crooked grin returning to his face. 

“Jamison Fawks. Pleasure’s all mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Winston didn’t dispose of Hammond, if were you worried about the little guy’s safety. He wouldn’t hurt his little friend. I didn’t think I would ever need to know when the world became fond of hamsters, but if you were wondering, hamsters started becoming popular pet choices in the 1930s. Thanks for reading! Tell me your thoughts, what you liked and what I can do better. Constructive criticism is always welcome, I hope you lovely people have an equally lovely day!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please tell me your thoughts, what you liked and what you didn't. Constructive criticism is always welcome. I hope all of you lovely people have an equally lovely day!


End file.
